There's little chance that any mistakes by the Rutgers
offensive line will be overlooked.

In addition to offensive line coach Damian Wroblewski and
assistant Darnell Stapleton, three additional members of the staff have playing and
coaching backgrounds at O-line. Most notably, Kyle Flood was an
offensive line coach for his entire 18-year career as a college assistant, including his first
seven seasons at Rutgers, until he was tabbed to replace Greg Schiano as head
coach in 2012.

"(Flood is) in our meeting room almost every day, just
talking to us and little things like that," left guard Kaleb Johnson said. "It
definitely helps. He was the offensive line coach when I got here, so we already
have that relationship."

Flood obviously has more responsibilities as the head coach,
so he tries not to pay more attention to the offensive line than other positions.

"We've got more offensive line coaches on this staff, I
think, than most programs," Flood said. "I think it's important for me to be
the head coach. I think I need to be hands-on really with all the positions and
not just that one."

Flood's title and responsibilities may have changed, but his
offensive line roots still creep out. Typically measured in any criticism of
his team, Flood gave a fairly harsh rebuke of the line's performance in last
Thursday's 41-17 loss to Central Florida. Excluding a big gain on a fake
punt, Rutgers rushed for 18 times for just 31 yards (1.7 ypc).

"I thought they whipped us front early in that football game,"
Flood said. "I didn't think we were able to handle their front seven and I'm
disappointed in that."

With that criticism in mind, the offensive line went to work
this week to tighten up its fundamentals. Flood cited communication as one area
of concern against Central Florida. There were a number of obvious breakdowns when the
line failed to pick up blitzing rushers, leaving quarterback Gary Nova no
time in the pocket.

"Assignments kind of got a little messy," Johnson said.
"That's one thing we've focused on this week in practice."

The line has been without starting center Betim Bujari the
past two games with an ankle injury. The senior is questionable for Saturday's
game against UConn. Replacement Dallas Hendrikson admitted that the line misses
Bujari.

"He's a great player," Hendrikson said. "But we've got to roll
with what we've got and just keep working."

Communication issues don't account for all of Rutgers' problems,
however. Flood said linemen simply need to do a better job winning 1-on-1
battles.

Johnson said the line's goal is to top 100 yards rushing each
game. Rutgers has failed to reach the century mark in two of the last three
weeks, which is an unacceptable trend among the linemen.

"You definitely take it personally," Hendrikson said. "It
motivates you to come out and work hard and try to improve and get things
right."

With no shortage of coaches offering advice, there is a
sense of confidence that the line will get back on track with its fundamentals and communication against UConn.

"I've seen us do them better in practice, but we've got to
ultimately do them better in the game," Flood said. "That's where you're
judged."